Bicycle Friendly America Winter 2018 - 35

day, so we can adjust accordingly depending on how we feel.
We leave the campground by 7:00 a.m.
It typically takes about an hour of riding
for our legs to warm up and be ready to
pedal all day. It is difficult when we hit an
uphill climb first thing in the morning,
because our legs are just not ready for it.
Unfortunately, the first part of our ride
today is over some small mountains just
outside of Colville.
Several years ago on a bicycle trip in
the San Juan Islands (located off Washington State in Puget Sound), we had a
tough climb on Orcas Island. Our lodging for the night was a resort at sea level
and we had a very steep climb to continue our journey the next day. We actually
rode around for about fifteen minutes in
the parking lots to wake up our legs before we took on the hill. I am proud to
say we made it up the hill without having
to push the bicycle. The funny thing was
someone had glued a bunch of change to
the side of the road where we were riding.
Peter and I wondered if they thought it
would distract a struggling bicyclist and
help them keep going. It worked for us
with Peter yelling out "dime," "quarter,"
"penny," etc., as we climbed the hill.
The climb out of Colville is about
eighteen miles long followed by a tenmile downhill. The downhill is steep, the
road is narrow and twisty. It is a technical
descent with two fifteen miles-per-hour
hairpin turns. Now remember, I have little control over our speed and just need
to lean the way Peter does. But, of course,
I am able to see the hairpin turn warning
signs, and I feel we were going way too
fast to make the corner and should slow
down. We take the first corner at thirty
miles per hour. Peter uses the maneuverability of the bike to negotiate the curve
faster than a car can. He sets us up for the
left-hand curve on the far right side of
our lane, dives to the inside as we enter
the corner, then drifts to the right side of
the lane again. We make it through just
fine.
However, as Peter sets us up for the
second turn, again at thirty miles per
hour, an RV comes around the corner
in the opposite direction and we have to
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Bicycle Friendly America Winter 2018
